TCM Schedule for Friday, July 12, 2019 -- What's On Tonight: 1939: Hollywood's Golden Year

[Staph]

Today TCM continues their month-long celebration of what is arguably Hollywood's best year, 1939. Take it away, Roger!

Often heralded as the "The Greatest Year in Movies," 1939 saw an incredible lineup of timeless film masterpieces along with a bumper crop of expertly made entertainments. Audiences embraced this bounty of movie treasures by showing up at the nation's theaters in droves. According to the L.A. Times, 365 films were released during the year and moviegoers were buying tickets at the rate of 80 million a week!

TCM salutes this incredible cinematic year with a showcase of more than 40 movies including the crown jewel of 1939 and the year's Best Picture Oscar winner, Gone With the Wind, David O. Selznick's spectacular epic of the Civil War starring Clark Gable and Oscar winner Vivien Leigh. Also screening is the year's other marvel, MGM's fantastic musical adventure The Wizard of Oz, with Judy Garland in a truly iconic performance.

. . .

by Roger Fristoe

Enjoy!


6:24 AM -- SONS OF LIBERTY (1939)
A patriotic short film chronicling the efforts of underground leader and military financier Haym Salomon during the American Revolution. Vitaphone Release 9195-9196.
C-21 mins,

Winner of an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Two-reel


6:45 AM -- THE LITTLE PRINCESS (1939)
When her father is reported dead in war, his daughter fights harsh conditions at her boarding school.
Dir: Walter Lang
Cast: Shirley Temple, Richard Greene, Anita Louise
C-93 mins, CC,

The reason Shirley Temple hadn't made a movie in Technicolor until this one was that the Technicolor company insisted that 1,000 foot-candle lights be used to get proper exposure on its film. These incredibly bright lights produced so much heat that the studio thought a child Temple's age would be hurt working under such conditions. So, with the cooperation of the Technicolor company, cinematographer Arthur C. Miller worked on a series of tests using lower levels of light, and finally discovered that 400 to 500 foot-candle lights would produce a satisfactory Technicolor image without generating the kind of heat that could injure Temple and the other children in the cast. Technicolor used a new high-speed film for this picture's trailer. This new film went on to be used for Gone with the Wind (1939).


8:30 AM -- ANDY HARDY GETS SPRING FEVER (1939)
A teenage boy falls in love with his drama teacher.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Lewis Stone, Mickey Rooney, Cecilia Parker
BW-85 mins, CC,

The seventh of sixteen Andy Hardy films starring Mickey Rooney.


10:00 AM -- IDIOT'S DELIGHT (1939)
A hoofer and a fake Russian countess are caught behind enemy lines at the outbreak of World War II.
Dir: Clarence Brown
Cast: Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Edward Arnold
BW-110 mins, CC,

There were two slightly different endings shot. One, shot for the American market, had the stars witness a fairly short air raid and then end the movie while doing a comedy song. The other, shot for the international market, featured a much longer and more violent air raid and had the stars singing the hymn "Abide With Me" at the end. Turner Classic Movies usually shows both endings.


12:00 PM -- IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD (1939)
A runaway poetess helps a fugitive prove himself innocent of murder charges.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: Claudette Colbert, James Stewart, Guy Kibbee
BW-86 mins, CC,

Claudette Colbert's first picture for MGM.


1:30 PM -- FAST AND LOOSE (1939)
Married book-dealers Joel and Garda Sloane investigate the killing of a noted collector.
Dir: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Reginald Owen
BW-80 mins, CC,

Preceded by Fast Company (1938) and followed by Fast and Furious (1939).


3:00 PM -- LUCKY NIGHT (1939)
During a drunken night out, an heiress marries a broken-down gambler.
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Myrna Loy, Robert Taylor, Joseph Allen
BW-82 mins, CC,

The car they win is a 1939 Plymouth 4-door sedan, which sold at that time for about $800.


4:30 PM -- NAUGHTY BUT NICE (1939)
A college professor turns songwriter and falls for his lyricist.
Dir: Ray Enright
Cast: Ann Sheridan, Dick Powell, Gale Page
BW-89 mins,

The film's tagline -- The "Oomph" Girl's Greatest Tri"Oomph"


6:01 PM -- DUEL PERSONALITIES (1939)
While under a hypnotic spell, a boy thinks he's one of the Three Musketeers and challenges his friend to a duel in this comedic short.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Our Gang, June Preston, Allan Randall
BW-10 mins,

Bubbling Troubles (1940) was the very last "Our Gang" short, with actor, Tommy Bond. Bond was with the group twice. His first time span, he was an immediate member. His second 'time with the gang', he acted as a rival and was nicknamed "Butch", for acting as a rival. In reality he still was a friend, but acted as a rival.


6:15 PM -- ANOTHER THIN MAN (1939)
Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II
Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey
BW-103 mins, CC,

Two tragedies befell William Powell prior to the making of this movie: the unexpected death of his fiancée, Jean Harlow, and a difficult battle with colon cancer that required colon bypass surgery and new radiation treatments. Production of this film was delayed as a result, and Powell and Myrna Loy were given a standing ovation when he finally returned to join her on the set for filming.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: 1939: HOLLYWOOD'S GOLDEN YEAR



8:00 PM -- DARK VICTORY (1939)
A flighty heiress discovers inner strength when she develops a brain tumor.
Dir: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart
BW-104 mins, CC,

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Bette Davis, Best Music, Original Score -- Max Steiner, and Best Picture

During the filming of the emotionally-charged scene when Bette Davis's character needs to find her way upstairs to her room after the brain tumor has caused her blindness, the cast and crew and several visitors were watching as Davis grasped the banister and began to feel her way up the steps, one by one. Halfway to the top of the staircase Davis paused, stopped the scene, briskly walked back downstairs and addressed director Edmund Goulding. "Ed," Davis said, "is Max Steiner going to be composing the music score to this picture?" Goulding, surprised by the question, replied that he didn't know, and asked Davis why the matter was important enough to stop the filming of the scene. "Well, either I'm going to climb those stairs or Max Steiner is going to climb those stairs," Davis responded, "but I'll be God-DAMNED if Max Steiner and I are going to climb those stairs together!"


10:00 PM -- GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
Classic tale of Scarlett O'Hara's battle to save her beloved Tara and find love during the Civil War.
Dir: Victor Fleming
Cast: Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Vivien Leigh
C-233 mins, CC,

Winner of an Honorary Award for William Cameron Menzies for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind (plaque).

Winner of Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Vivien Leigh, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Hattie McDaniel (Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Oscar.), Best Director -- Victor Fleming, Best Writing, Screenplay -- Sidney Howard (Posthumously. Sidney Howard became the first posthumous Oscar nominee and winner.), Best Cinematography, Color -- Ernest Haller and Ray Rennahan, Best Art Direction -- Lyle R. Wheeler, Best Film Editing -- Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom, and Best Picture

Winner of a Technical Achievement Award for R.D. Musgrave for pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production Gone with the Wind

Nominee for Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Clark Gable, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Olivia de Havilland, Best Sound, Recording -- Thomas T. Moulton (Samuel Goldwyn SSD), Best Effects, Special Effects -- Jack Cosgrove (photographic), Fred Albin (sound) and Arthur Johns (sound), and Best Music, Original Score -- Max Steiner

Max Steiner was given only three months to compose the music, considering that 1939 was the busiest year of his career; in that year he wrote the music for 12 films. In order to meet the deadline, Steiner sometimes worked for 20 hours straight and took Benzedrine pills to stay awake. With almost three hours of music, "Gone With the Wind" had the longest film score ever composed up to that time.


2:00 AM -- ANOTHER SON OF SAM (1977)
A psychotic killer escapes from an insane asylum and goes on a killing spree.
Dir: Dave Adams
Cast: Russ Dubuc, Cynthia Stewart, Robert McCourt
BW-72 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

Filmed in 1975, not released until 1977.


3:17 AM -- A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES (1937)
In this comedic short, a man and wife suffer through a night together at the movies.
Dir: Roy Rowland
Cast: Robert Benchley, Flora Finch, Gwen Lee
BW-10 mins,

Nominee for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-reel

Inside Joke: Just after Robert Benchley buys his tickets from the cashier (played by Gwen Lee), he walks past a poster advertising the film My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937), which featured Lee.


3:30 AM -- ALONE IN THE DARK (1982)
Four escaped lunatics invade a doctor's home.
Dir: Jack Sholder
Cast: Jack Palance, Donald Pleasence, Paula Raflo
C-93 mins, CC,

This was the first feature film produced by distributor New Line Cinema.


5:15 AM -- BOOKED FOR SAFEKEEPING (1960)
In this short documentary, police officers are trained in the assistance and management of mentally ill and confused persons.
Dir: George C Stoney
BW-32 mins,